"Our guests continue to shop with discipline in the face of a slow economic recovery and new pressures, including recent payroll tax increases," he said.

Consumer confidence slid in January to its lowest level since November 2011 amid increasing pessimism over business conditions, according to the Conference Board last week.

Kohl's Corp. said that its efforts to clear seasonal merchandise and a 59 percent surge in e-commerce sales last month helped bring its same-store sales up 13.3 percent.

Macy's Inc. was so heartened by its "outstanding" 11.7 percent advance in January that it raised its earnings forecast for its fourth fiscal quarter, which it will report on Feb. 26.

The retailer, which also owns the Bloomingdale's brand, said its online sales boomed 48.9 percent last month.

Separately from the Thomson Reuters report, Anthropologie and Free People owner Urban Outfitters Inc. said comparable sales from stores were flat for its fourth quarter. Without consumer returns - likely from unwanted gifts - the figure would have risen several percentage points, the company said.

Retail analyst Ken Perkins, who puts out another sales report through Retail Metrics Inc., said shopper traffic slowed in the final 10 days of the month as holiday sales waned and temperatures stayed frigid.

"Retailers began to transition floor sets to early spring merchandise, which got off to a slow start in part due to cool weather across the country," he said.